Sustainable Building Award 2019 for De Leister Igge

By Robert van Rixtel25-02-2019

At the Duurzaam Gebouwd Congres (Sustainably Built Congress) last week, Leister Igge received the Sustainable Building Award in the category of most sustainable project. The jury praised the project because it is an inspiring example for all education buildings in the Netherlands and thus provides an innovative answer to a pressing social issue.

By applying a different way of financing and cooperating well together, old schools can be successfully renovated. This has been proven by IKC De Leister Igge in Opeinde (municipality Smallingerland). In a traditional setting, there would have been only a budget for overdue maintenance. Now there is an entirely renovated Nul-op-de-Meter-school (Zero-on-the-Meter school) without a gas connection, which is ready for the future. This achievement is therefore well-deservedly rewarded with De Gouden Kikker 2019.

The Leister Igge is the first existing school in the Netherlands that was converted into a sustainable IKC. Now, The Leister Igge generates on an annual basis as much energy as it uses. This could all be achieved thanks to a system with solar panels, local air treatment units per room (for heating and cooling), improved insulation, new window frames fitted with HR +++ glass, and LED lighting. The design also responds to the required flexibility. This provides new types of spaces such as the learning squares and the play area. The possible interconnection of these spaces and the corridor zone enables new forms of education and, for example, performances. The multifunctional new staircase, which also functions as a stand/play element and storage space, plays a crucial role in this. A comfortable, healthy and contemporary school building with a good indoor climate is the result.

The Grenovation consortium (consisting of Meerbouw Rotterdam, LIAG architects and construction consultants and DAIV Group) were jointly responsible for the design and the construction.